Dear Friends :

I began with writing to all of you about the monsoon and its devastating effects. BUT everything has changed with the serial blasts in Mumbai. The anger in people’s voices is loud and clear. The news is too recent & disturbing to ignore.

Let’s sustain and nurture this anger to ‘be the change we want to see around us’. The time has come when we don’t just stop with criticizing the system, administration or the politicians. We can’t get away by saying that things are returning to normalcy because for people who have borne the brunt with personal losses, it hasn’t and it never will.

I strongly urge each one of you to initiate action, question and demand. We all have enough power to ask what is important for the police – stopping the trucks for bribe or taking care of public places or question municipal corporations why drains get blocked every year in the rains. How did your local MP or MLA spend his/her annual fund meant for you? Don’t wait for someone else to fight for you…Let’s take some initiatives on our own.

INITIATIVES

More on the activities of GOONJ in the newsletter…

Happy reading…

Anshu

VISUALS OF PRATIBIMB - 2006

• With the onset of monsoons another session of devastating floods has arrived. We urgently seek your involvement in our annual campaign RAHAT FLOODS to reach the flood victims across the country. For a comprehensive list of material and more details please refer "WHY RAHAT"
  Also check the list of collection centers -" COLLECTION CENTRES "where you can give material. Financial support can be sent to us by cheque/draft/cash. All donations are exempted u/s 80 G of IT act.
  
• A long cherished dream of getting the rural and urban kids of S2S partner schools, to meet each other, was realized in April this year. Pratibimb - a three days interface event of urban - rural kids, finally materialized when children from 8 villages in U.P, Bihar, West Bengal and Tamil Nadu and from 15 schools in Delhi and NCR congregated in Delhi. GOONJ’s rural partners worked very hard to convince parents to send their children, on what was for most, their first journey outside their villages. Genpact supported the event. For pictures and report "PRATIBIMB"

• With the fast spread of SCHOOL to SCHOOL there is a corresponding increase in demand for school material. This calls for a more intensified campaign in schools and other educational institutions for which we seek volunteers. You can also sponsor our cost effective recycled (cloth & paper) mats and notebooks for the rural/slum schools. To know more about various sponsorship options please write/call us or refer -" SCHOOL TO SCHOOL "
  
• Like last year GOONJ is all set to participate in a big way in the second Delhi Half Marathon. This is a big opportunity for us not only for raising funds but also as a major platform for spreading the message. You can support GOONJ by becoming a part of the Dream Team, Corporate Challenge, Group (Pledgers united) or as an individual. People from all over the world can support this initiative. Please write back with your queries.
  
• The issue of sanitary napkins is fast gaining momentum among urban women. An informal group of NRIs in Singapore-Focus India Forum is now partially supporting this initiative.
  Every women reading this mail is urged to commit at least one meter of cotton cloth to GOONJ every month. In those difficult days of the month, please do think of a women who does not even have the means to tackle this. Imagine a small contribution from you will benefit so many women who are forced to use the worst available cloth or in some cases even sand/ash for this purpose. For more details -
  " SANITARY NAPKINS "
  
• Tsunami wastage as resource- Last year this disaster reject of colossal proportions benefited people in the Tsunami affected areas, earthquake hit in Kashmir and other areas. With the support of Deutsche bank we have now set up a workshop where we are converting this waste cloth into hundreds of clean cloth sanitary napkins and school bags. For more details refer -" SANITARY NAPKINS"
  
• TEAM 600 - GOONJ is on a lookout for just 600 people who become the core group of our strength. For more information on joining TEAM 600 log on to-" TEAM - 600"
  
• We are looking for reliable and active agencies, individuals and schools on the district level across the country who will be trained and supported to replicate our model and systems on a micro level. We have already started this exercise in Jalandhar (Punjab) and Shimoga (Karnataka). Do write back if you would like to join us.

• We urgently need

  * Operational support in Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata & Bangalore – About 200 to 300 Sq. Ft. space, some office infrastructure and small financial support as seed money to initiate action in these cities.

  *Vehicle requirement in Delhi & Mumbai- To intensify our campaign in these two metros, a vehicle for material pick up is still a major hindrance. If you have any ideas/contacts on this please write/call us at the earliest.

  * Office automation equipment (New/old)- old/new printers and photo-copying machine.

  * We are also looking for outlets/offices where we can place our small cash / cheque drop boxes.
  

  VISUALS OF THE PROCESS OF MAKING SANITARY NAPKINS

You can associate with GOONJ in many different ways. Log on to: -" IF YOU ARE ......"

Your donations to GOONJ.. are exempted u/s 80 G of IT act and GOONJ.. is also registered under FCRA for receiving foreign contributions